


Ante Up

by aliasofwestgate



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Character Study, John and Zoe are bros, M/M, blink and you miss it d/s tone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-19
Updated: 2013-02-19
Packaged: 2017-11-29 19:12:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/690463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliasofwestgate/pseuds/aliasofwestgate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She hasn't missed how they've warmed towards each other; how John positively preens around the older, dapper gentleman he calls his boss. </p><p> </p><p>(Or, it ate my brain and i had to get it out!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ante Up

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to my beta reader, zuviousgemini. For helping me get this out promptly. ^_^ 
> 
> For the record, i love Zoe as a character. She's awesome in a lot of ways. If John wasn't so intense about Harold, i could see her and john as something other than bros. Either way, she took over my head for just a little bit. Definitely a lot of fun to write. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Zoe watches the easy roll of John's shoulders as she walks behind him in the long hallways on the way to the Penthouse Suite he had been so smug about earlier.  She hadn't missed the contentment in his voice, nor the way his eyes had followed Harold earlier, nor his fond gaze as they'd spoken before the older gentleman went to speak with his new Manager.

 

It was an easy night of poker and drinks, John's eyes always towards the door and they weren't in front of any windows. It didn't escape her when she saw John brighten visibly when Harold walked in an hour or two later, smiling.  Any other day, she'd go for John in a red hot minute, but even then she'd never have his undivided attention. Not when Harold walks by, and lets his hand rest on John's shoulder for just a second. She watches John lean into the touch, the action so instinctive that even he doesn't notice it in his happiness. Just the three of them here.

 

Harold settles a few feet away at another desk with his laptop open. John once again assesses the area for threats without a second thought before he goes back to his cards.

 

She grins as John loses yet another hand to her. Taking another drink, she lets the alcohol burn its way down her throat before shuffling the deck.

 

"Would you like to play too, Harold?" She asks, mostly out of curiosity, and the rest plain old courtesy. Harold is her host tonight, and her parents did raise her right. 

 

"No, thank you, Ms. Morgan.  I have a few loose ends to tie up here before we leave in the morning, but I do appreciate the offer."

 

He's turned just enough to speak to her, and his voice carries pleasantly over the hum of his laptop. He has half a smile on his face as he turns back to it. His slim fingers fly over the keyboard as he goes back to his work.

 

Zoe stays another few hours, exchanging playful barbs with both men as they while away the time. It's rare to have anyone she considers friends in her business, but these two? They have easily taken on that label in the year she's known them.  It's a warming feeling to have. She loves Manhattan, and this is as much their home as it is hers.

 

She hasn't missed how they've warmed towards each other; how John positively preens around the older, dapper gentleman he calls his boss. She's glad to be their friend, and in turn she'll help them when she can.  She wants to keep this feeling for all of them, even more so for the two she sees in front of her.

 

She won't forget just how haunted John was last year when she met him. How hollow he sounded. Even though his intent was to protect her, she couldn't avoid it in his eyes.

 

Now? John is no longer lost, not with the person just off to his side as his magnetic north.

 

About an hour later, around the time she considers leaving, there's a knock on the door. John opens to a bellhop and the short, sharp bark of Bear.

 

"I was wondering where you'd left him, John."  She grins before knocking back one last bit of whiskey and dealing out their final hand.  Her fingers move easily, even with her pleasant buzz as she watches the dog bowl the tall man down in unadulterated joy.  Zoe's eyes flicker up as she catches Harold watching them both, a fond half smile on his lips. He raises his eyes to hers and gives a small, jerky nod of his own, acknowledging her status as an equal. She'll never know the exact nature of their work, or the source of their information. But it really doesn't bother her, not now and probably not ever.

 

John gets up just in time for them to begin their final hand, and her eyes widen. She's never seen a smile that open on his face before. He's turned towards Harold for just a moment, his eyes cast down demurely as he watches his friend work. His hand lingers on the dog's head for a moment before he turns back, his complete attention back to their game.

 

He loses the final hand miserably of course, turning over the pot without protest. But that happiness radiating from him never leaves even as he fails.

 

Zoe says her goodbyes, and watches as John gets up just long enough to kneel beside Harold's desk, eyes level with the computer screen. The discussion of logistics regarding some project flies between them, with Bear canine snoring on the other side of Harold's feet.

 

She closes the door on this odd picture as she makes her way out, a sly smile of her own on her face. She makes her way to her own suite, a short walk to the other end of the floor, to enjoy her own night of luxury for something that was so easily done.  As she walks in, she puts in a call for a masseuse appointment in the morning.  Maybe she'll pay the budding couple a visit afterwards before she heads out to find the next job to be done. They are her friends, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> [Buy Me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/A5533LVN)


End file.
